Colt Cabana Reveals How Much Of A Pay Cut He Took When He Signed With WWE

Colt Cabana was on the AEW Unrestricted podcast with AEW's Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone to talk about his wrestling career from the indies to Ring of Honor and his brief time in WWE. Cabana said before he signed with WWE, he was doing well for himself financially achieving the goal of making a living as an independent wrestler. He said he took a 50% pay cut to sign with WWE in hopes that it would lead to bigger things in the future.

"I actually took a 50% pay decrease to wrestle for the WWE when I signed my contract, but I said to myself this is an investment in my future," Cabana revealed. "There's only so much you can make on the independent scene. Yes, I'm taking a 50% decrease, but the possibilities to be a millionaire are there. So that's the gamble I'm willing to take."

In WWE, Cabana was named "Scotty Goldman." He says he's gotten a lot of explanations for why his last name was "Goldman" telling a story about how it came about because of his Jewish heritage. He has talked about where his early career could have gone on Twitter before, and he said on the podcast that while he was happy with his spot, he knew that his placement was not one where someone of high standing would be.

"I've got a couple stories about where 'Goldman' came from," Cabana said. "I heard Vince [McMahon] was like, 'is he really Jewish?' They're like, 'yeah, I guess.' Alright Goldman, and I don't know why 'Scotty.' I mean I know why Scotty, but I don't know why that was the name, and 'Scotty Goldman' appeared losing his debut match to Brian Kendrick in under two minutes as a platform for Brian Kendrick to move into a match against Triple H. That was the spot I was given.

"Maybe other people will succeed in that manner. Who knows? The next match it was me and Kung Fu Naki vs. Kozlov in a handicap match, and again, that was the spot I was given. I was happy to do it, but in my head, that's not how you debut wrestlers or ones that you think highly of. I kind of think how I was thought of."

Cabana said he has always been a person that has taken time to impress people jokingly calling himself "Slow Burn" Cabana. He revealed that he was given a show on WWE.com that he was able to write. He also talks about the "WWE Universe", which was WWE's social media platform similar to MySpace. He said he thought of using those two outlets to build a fan base for himself.

"I've always been a person who impresses people over time. Like it's always been my theory," Cabana admits. "I'm always a slow burn. I'll win you over slowly over time, and that was my plan, was to not ruffle any feathers [and] was to try to get in there try to get over from the bottom up. Funny enough, a lot of the writers who were my age really liked my style of comedy and humor, and I was given a WWE.com show before YouTube was even a thing. I was able to kind of write it myself under the radar.

"Also, there's a thing called the 'WWE Universe.' [It] was their attempt at a MySpace, and I remember thinking that was going to be my way in. I was going to use my charm and wit by writing blogs and videos, and I did. I wrote a lot of funny, little things on there, and I got a lot of WWE fans to be my fans for the underdog."

Reports at the time said that Cabana was fired from WWE for botching Umaga's Samoan Spike finisher. Cabana says he's still not sure why he was fired, and he gave his experience during that time.

"After five matches, I mean, I still don't know the story. I wrestled Umaga," Cabana recalled. "I was losing very quickly. I lost. Umaga came back down the ramp and beat me again for some reason. I came back. I said, 'what happened?' Everyone said, 'ah, we just wanted another shot.' That was I think a Friday on SmackDown, and then I think on Monday, I got called and told I was released."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.